The Next Prophecy
by PSfriends4ever
Summary: A prophecy is a prophecy, it will come true wether I try to stop it or not. So, I'm going to try anyway!" she screamed at us as we all ran out to watch to 3rd line of the prophecy be fulfiled. "An oath to keep with a final breath." He was going to die
1. Jumping

**Chapter 1; JUMPING**

Rachel Elizabeth Dare. 18yrs

I'm late, again. You'd think that after 2 years at "Clarion Ladies Academy" (I'm really starting to hate that name. They should change it to "Clarion Losers Academy") that I'd at least come to my classes on time. But no, not me, And I'm not even going to hurry to my class. But unfortunately, I'd get there eventually. I wish the headmistress would give us more time to spend on our own. I've been here for two years and I've hardly seen this city. I can't wait to graduate and go back to New York.

Don't get me wrong, London's great and everything but I miss New York… Dad won't even let me spend the summer at camp half blood. I only get to spend 2 weeks there. Only 2 weeks of joy during the year. Of course, Annabeth and Percy come to visit sometimes, always together. Even Nico drops by every to see me now and then. And he can shadow travel straight into my room and stay for as long as he likes. My roommate doesn't mind him at all; she doesn't even ask how he gets in. At first it was a bit weird having Nico around but I'm so grateful that he comes so often…This school is too boring without him.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Dare." said the teacher when I reached the class.

I apologized quickly and sat on my seat.

Miss Young cleared her throat.

I looked up.

"Would you like to tell the class where you've been?" she asked

"No." I replied

I hate this teacher more any of the others… Miss Martha Young, known as Polly by teachers.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," said Miss Young.

She said it in the tone you would use to scold a toddler who has done something wrong. I could almost hear her say 'Tut Tut' or something in the end.

"How many times have I told you to give an explanation every time you apologize to me?" she asked

"I don't know, Miss, I didn't count." I replied.

She frowned. I was getting on her nerves. Hurray! This was another thing about school that I enjoyed. The best part is that she can't do anything about it. Dad doesn't care about what happens as long as I get good grades and my grades are pretty good.

"Where were you when the class started?" she snapped

I was in the library, writing a book on what all a new half blood should know about. Of course, I wasn't going to say that.

"I fell asleep in the library." I said

She shook her head.

"If you had merely said you were in the library, I would not have questioned you further. But now that I know that you are so very sleepy, you shall retire to your room an hour early." She said and then turned back to teach the class.

"Lucky!! You get to miss the ball!" Mandy said to me. Mandy was my class partner and my roommate. She was also forced to come here as well. She's the only decent person I've met so far. Some of the girls are stuck up brats who of course love going to parties where they can meet new people to suck up to.

Every 4 months, the school either hosts or takes the students for a ball or some party. These parties are only slightly better than the normal school night. Though Mandy and I much rather just sit in our room and do something we actually want to do.

"I'll get in trouble as well. Then we'll have so much fun!!" said Mandy, excited.

I smiled.

"Aren't you already in trouble…for missing the ball last time?"

Mandy's face fell.

"Oh, yeah...I forgot about that." she said

"Cheer up; it's not that bad to go to." I said, even though it totally was.

"But I'll be all alone, it will be so boring!" whined Mandy

"You'll have Sarah." I said, "She's okay to be with."

Sarah Clinon was my second best friend in this school, the first was Mandy. Even though Sarah liked the school and paid attention in every class, she was a good friend to have and she didn't suck up to the teachers.

"I guess you're right." Sighed Mandy

I smiled

"I'm always right."

-

After class, I quickly gathered my books and headed back to my room. Mandy walked with me, talking continuously. I wonder if she was aware that I wasn't listening. I just couldn't wait to finish this book. I only that 1 chapter lef-

BAM!

"Are you alright, Liza?" asked someone.

I didn't know exactly who was talking; all I knew was that my head hurt and I wasn't Liza. I rubbed my forehead and sat up. I opened my mouth to say I wasn't Liza when he (I figure it was a male voice) interrupted again.

"What's wrong, Liza?" he asked again.

I realised I was on the floor. I looked around and saw another girl sitting on the floor staring at my books that had fallen along with me. I quickly gathered them but I was not fast enough. The other girl picked up my half written Greek book and stood up. The boy standing next to her started at her wondering what's wrong.

"Can I have my book back?" I asked, rather rudely, considering that I probably banged into her.

She handed it over, still staring at it.

"Sorry," she said and then softly added, "The letters aren't moving."

"Well, of course they're not moving. Why would they?" I asked her.

She looked surprised at my answer. I don't think she knew I heard her.

"Sorry about banging into you; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I said.

"Neither was I." She said and then smiled.

"Can I see that book again?" she asked.

Mandy tugged at my arm.

"We're getting late..." she said.

"Maybe some other time." I said to the other girl and turned around and walked off with Mandy. Something about the way she looked at the book kept bothering me.

Sarah came up to us and asked, "Do you know who that girl was?"

"No." Said Mandy

"Does it matter?" I asked

Sarah gave us a disapproving look.

"Don't you know anything? That was Miss Young's daughter and son. You didn't say anything mean to them, did you, Rachel?"

"Of course I didn't, why would you assume that?" I asked, pretending to be offended.

Mandy laughed. "What were you thinking, Sarah... You know that Rachel _never_ snaps at strangers when they get in her way."

Sarah looked at us with a blank look, "I thought she did."

I sighed

"Come on Sarah, sarcasm is totally wasted on you."

We walked to the next class together. Mandy and Sarah talked about what they were going to do at the party tonight while I thought out the last chapter of my book.

................................................................................................

I sat on my bed fidgeting with my pillow while Nico read the book.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked

"No...I don't think so." He said. He closed the book and handed it back to me.

"I like the title."

"So, did you find anything on the doors of death?" I asked

Nico nodded.

"I'm not sure about it but I think I may have something."

Knock knock

Nico and I looked at each other

"Could it be Mandy?" asked Nico

I shook my head and then threw my blanket over him

"Hide!" I whispered and went to open the door. Boys aren't allowed in the academy. It couldn't be Mandy because she had just left; she won't be back so soon. I opened the door, no one was there. I was sure I heard a knock so I stepped out. I looked around, just to be sure.

A girl stepped out of the shadows. Actually, she fell out and steadied herself.

"Can I help you?" I asked, just to be polite.

The girl nodded and turned around, dragged a boy into the hallway, marched into my room, waited till I stepped back in and quickly shut the door.

I looked at her carefully. She seemed normal, she was wearing a shirt and shorts, she had a bag across her shoulders and she was clutching the boy's hand hard really hard. But she didn't look like a half-blood running from a monster and she wasn't a monster herself. In fact, when I looked more carefully,

"You're the girl that banged into me!" I cried

"You're bed has shoes!" she cried

Huh?

I turned around and pulled the blanket of Nico.

"When I said hide, I meant your feet as well!" I told him

Nico sat up

"Sorry."

The boy turned to the girl,

"I thought boys weren't allowed here." he said

"They're not." Said the girl

The boy turned to Nico

"Then how did you get in?" the boy asked

Nico stared at me helplessly. This girl was a teacher's daughter. She might tell her mother that Nico was here. But what was she doing here in the first place?

"Excuse me, but who are you?" I asked

The girl looked at me.

"Eliza Young." She said

"That's my brother Logan."

"Okay... So what are you doing here?" I asked

"That book, can I see it again?" she asked

"Why?" I asked

Eliza looked at her brother. He was younger than her, about 8, I guess. She was 13, I think. And whatever she wanted to discuss, she didn't want to do it in front of him.

"Who are you?" she asked me and Nico, who had been sitting on the bed silently till that moment.

"Nico Di Angelo." He said

"Rachel Dare." I said

Logan ran over to Nico and grabbed his sword.

"Cool!" he said

"Is this sword real?" he asked

"No, it's fake." said Eliza

"Yeah it's completely fake." Said Nico

I turned to Nico,

"Why don't you both go out and see how fake it is?"

"Yeah, go do that." Said Eliza

Nico shrugged and walked out and Logan followed him.

"Could you see the sword too?" I asked

Eliza sat on the bed and nodded.

"I keep seeing these...things..." she said, "I don't know what they are but I can see them, Logan sees them, Mom sees them and that's it and no one else sees them!"

"What makes you think I can help you?" I asked

"I don't know...it just so....ugh! You know?" she said, jumping up from the bed and walking around my room.

"No, I don't know. Look, if you're lost, I can take you to your mom's room." I said

"No! Mom doesn't know I'm here and she's not going to find out. Okay?" she said and then suddenly walked over to my bed and picked up the Greek book.

"When I told my mother that the series of storms 2 years ago was caused by a monster, she said that it's not good to have such a wide imagination. But she saw it too; it came on the news, a video footage of the storms... and this monster was causing it!" she said and opened the book to the page on Typhon and shoved it in my face.

"And because you this book, you have all the answers, my mom won't tell me anything." She finished.

I thought about it. If she saw Typhon then she is either a mortal who can see through the mist or a half-blood.

"That's not all." she continued, "I'm dyslexic but the words in this book, I can read them normally."

"You can read Greek?" I asked

"No, but if I did then I would be able to read normally. That doesn't make sense... I can read Greek but not English!"

Actually that makes a lot sense.

"Is Logan dyslexic too?" I asked

"He was, but mom made him take extra classes when he was younger so he's fine now. We didn't notice my dyslexia till a year ago."

"Do you have ADHD?" I asked. Those were the 2 main characteristics of classification of a half-blood; Dyslexia and ADHD. And other stuff but these were the most common.

"Logan's is more noticeable than mine."

Okay...

"Who's your Father?" I asked. I knew her mother.

"I don't know. Mom wouldn't tell me. She keeps saying that he's watching us from the skies so I guess he's dead." said Eliza

"Is there a point to these questions? I don't like leaving Logan with a kid with a sword." She said.

"I know the swords real and I'm not sure I want Logan playing around with it."

She can't be a half-blood. She just can't. She is the daughter of my teacher! She can't be a half blood. In fact, if she was a half blood shouldn't she have been claimed by now? She's 13, right?

"How old are you?" I asked, just to be sure

"I'm 12 and a half. I'll be 13 in a couple of weeks." She said

Okay, I took a deep breath. She was an unclaimed half-blood. I should at least tell her that.

"You know about the Greek gods and everything, right?" I asked

"Yeah... somewhat." She said

"Well, it's all true, Greek gods are still alive and-"

"NO WAY!"

I turned around and saw Mandy standing in the door way, her mouth wide open, staring at me and Eliza with wide eyes.

"You're joking right?" she asked

I hesitated. Mandy was my best friend, if I had to tell someone, I'd tell her, but I can't tell her the truth and I didn't want to lie to her.

She took my silence as a 'yes'

"It's true?" she asked

At that moment, Nico and Logan ran into the room and quickly shut the door behind them.

"We have to go." Said Nico

My first thought was monsters. I looked at Nico; a slight nod from him confirmed it. Monsters were after us; All four of us.

"What about them?" I asked meaning Eliza and Logan

"Are they half bloods?" he asked leaning against the door as if trying to stop the monsters from entering.

Logan went over to Eliza who was sitting, still absorbing what I had said earlier, and took her hand.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"That's what I would like to know." said Mandy

"Rachel!" said Nico. I heard a pound on the door and Nico was almost thrown forward but he steadied himself. I quickly ran over to help.

"How many?" I asked

"Just one for now. The other 4 are on their way." He said

Logan and Mandy came over to help us with the door; if the other monsters get here then we will get hurt. Mandy will get hurt. This didn't involve her. she shouldn't be here.

"We have to go." I told Nico

"How?" he asked, "In case you haven't noticed we're blocking the only exit."

"The door is starting to crack!" said Mandy

"What should we do?!" I asked no one in particular.

"We jump." said Eliza. She walked over to the window and pointed outside.

"We jump." She said.

Crazy. This girl was crazy. The truth may have been too much for her. Poor girl.

"What about Mandy?" asked Nico

That's right. We can't just leave her and go. She might tell someone.

"The mist." I suggest. I didn't like the thought but it was the only option.

"No mist! Whatever that is, Rachel, I won't tell anyone, you can trust me, can't you?" said Mandy.

The pounding on the door was getting harder to suppress.

"What will you tell everyone when I mysteriously disappear along with our teacher daughter?"

Mandy was silent.

"You were kidnapped by thugs and so was I." said Eliza, peering out the window.

"We're on the third floor but if can get into that balcony we can climb down." She continued

"Thugs?" asked Mandy

"Yeah, thugs, kidnappers, same thing. You were knocked out and they came in and took Rachel and me, you didn't see them and you have no idea where we are. Okay?" said Eliza now walking over to the door and helping us.

Mandy nodded

"That's a good idea but where are you going?" she asked.

"Away from here." Said Nico and stepped forward, took out his knife and cut Mandy's forehead.

"Are you crazy, Nico?" I screamed. He just stabbed Mandy in the forehead!

"Relax, Now she looks like she's been hit by the "Kidnappers""

"He's right it doesn't hurt. The blood's just for show." said Mandy

The was a really hard pound on the door and we all fell forward. Logan, Mandy and I fell but Eliza and Nico managed to stay standing. They pulled us up as we made our way to the window. Jumping out was our only option.

Mandy stared at the beast in the doorway.

"That's a monster?"she asked.

"Remember, security guards are good, others are not." Said Nico.

I understood what he meant but I don't think Mandy did then.

The monster advanced forward. The thundering footsteps behind him reminded us that more were coming.

"Mandy, hide." said Nico and jumped out the window. Logan followed immediately. Eliza said "Please don't tell my mother about the Greek stuff." And jumped out.

I ran to the window sill.

"Don't call my cell phone. Don't mention Greek gods. I'll tell you everything when I get back and the password is "Blue hairbrush.""

Those were my last words to Mandy as she threw the blanket over herself in order to hide and I jumped out the window.

I closed my eyes tightly. Nico jumped first, He must have some plan and I was just going to have to trust him. I'm glad I did, because I didn't hit ground like I was expecting myself to. Instead, someone caught me.

Eliza screamed.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was being held by a skeleton. I should have known that Nico's skeletons would be waiting for us here. Unfortunately, Eliza had no way of knowing that these weren't enemies.

"Eliza, they aren't going to hurt you." I said.

"I know." She screamed, "But they're creepy!"

"They're so cool!"said Logan, as the skeletons let us down.

"Come on people, move it!" said Nico, hurriedly running away from where we were.

"Monsters still after us, remember?"

Eliza, Logan and I ran after him as fast as we could.

"What about the skeletons?" asked Eliza as she caught up to Nico.

"They'll hold off the monsters for while."

"Can they do that?"

"They're dead. I think they'll manage." he said

"How did you summon them, anyways?" asked Logan. He was running right next to me. It was kind of sad how I could only run as fast as an eight year old boy but they don't exactly teach you how to run at a Ladies Academy.

"How did you do that?" he asked again.

"You remember how I said that gods were real?" I said. It was hard talking and running at the same time but I managed.

"Yeah..." said Eliza

"Well, they reproduced with humans."

"They can do that?" she asked

"But wouldn't that mean that their kids would-" she stopped running and stared at us.

"It's time for a proper introduction." I whispered to Nico.

"Rachel Dare, Oracle of Delphi." I told her.

Logan looked expectantly at Nico. Eliza just stood there with here hands on the knees, catching her breath.

"Nico Di Angelo." said Nico, "Son of Hades."


	2. Screaming

Chapter 2;

**Screaming**

Part 1

Mandy Carmichael. 18 yrs.

I waited till the room was silent; till there were no rushing footsteps and no more grunts from monsters were heard. The last one had just jumped out the window. I threw the blanket off myself and rushed to the window. I looked out and saw about 4 big, fat, ugly, hairy men with these skinny little security guards. I remembered what Nico said. Security guards are good. I looked down again and saw that all of them had started fighting. The guards were shooting at the ugly men but they didn't affected by the bullets. I closed my eyes tightly. I only reasonable thing I could think of was that something was manipulating my eyesight. Those men are supposed to be monsters. And the guards are supposed to be...something. I didn't know what but they were not security guards. They were not security guards. They are not security guards. I repeated that about five times and opened my eyes and looked down again.

I screamed.

Oh shit! They were not security guards! They were freaking skeletons! In guard outfits! And they were fighting with swords! That can't be right either. I closed my eyes and opened them again. The skeletons went back to being guards. I shook my head. I had to stick to Eliza's story no matter what. I'll think about skeletons later. I turned around and ran out of the room.

I ran into the Ballroom where everyone had gathered to enjoy the party and searched for Sarah. I found her almost as soon as I entered the room.

"Sarah! Where's Mrs. Stiller?" I asked

"She's over there. Mandy, you're bleeding! What's wrong?" said Sarah.

I didn't wait to answer her. I ran straight for the headmistress Mrs. Stiller.

"Ms. Carmichael, Is everything alright?" she asked when I reached her.

I shook my head franticly.

"Rachel Dare has been kidnapped." I said

* * *

I stared awkwardly at my hands while the Police officer asked Mrs. Stiller some questions. After I told everyone that Rachel had been kidnapped, Ms. Young called the police and Mrs. Stiller rushed out to see if the 'kidnappers' had left any sign of who they were. We all reached outside just in time to see the last of the monster to jump over the gate followed by a guard/skeleton. Then they cleaned my forehead and made me wait till the police arrived. When the police finally came, I still had to wait because they decided to question the academy security about intruders first. Now this one officer was questioning Mrs. Stiller about Rachel. I didn't like him. He had these narrowed eyes and looked suspiciously at every one. There was a young boy behind him, though. I liked him. He was about 19 I guess and he kept smiling encouragingly at the headmistress but he didn't say anything.

Mrs. Stiller got up and left. The Officer came and sat opposite so that we were face to face. The boy sat next to him. The officer made me uneasy. It felt like he could see right through me if I lied.

"You seem uncomfortable. Is there something you want to tell us Ms. Carmichael?" asked the officer. I stared at him, not able to think of what to say. Should I lie or will he be able to see through my lies?

"She saw her best friend get kidnapped, of course she's uncomfortable." Said the boy

I looked at the officer but he didn't look like he heard the boy. So I said it louder.

"I just saw my best friend get kidnapped, Mr. Farrar, of course I'm uncomfortable." I said

"When you say you saw Dare get kidnapped, you mean you actually saw the kidnappers pick her up and take her?" asked Officer Farrar.

I was going to say 'yes' but when the boy shook his head, I decided to say,

"No"

"No? Then what did you see?" asked Farrar, "And why were you there in the first place? Weren't all students supposed to be at the party?"

"I was at the party at first. Then I went back to room for a second to check on Rachel."

"Why would you go to check on Rachel?"

"She's my best friend. The party was boring without her. And I only went back because Ms. Young told me to go make sure Rachel was there." I said. It wasn't a lie. That's actually why I was there.

"Why would Ms. Young do that?"

"Well, Ms. Young told Rachel that she couldn't go to the ball and she had to sleep an hour early. She sent me to be certain that Rachel was in her room and not somewhere else."

"Where else could Rachel be?"

"At the library."

"Tell me, did Rachel have many friends?" he asked

"She had me and Sarah. She didn't want other friends."

"That cut on your forehead was made with a knife, wasn't it?" he asked

He changed the topic. Maybe he was hoping to trick me into not lying to him. Well it wasn't working.

"So, what if it was?" I asked

"You're telling me that the kidnappers came into the room, gave you such a small cut, took Rachel and the others and left?"

The boy said something. I looked at the officer. Could he not see or hear this boy? Maybe the boy was also part of a Greek something. That would explain something but then why could I see him?

I didn't have time to think about that right now. I repeated what the boy said,

"The kidnapper meant to give me a deeper cut but I managed to take a step back and he missed. I fell down anyway and figured it would be better to stay fallen. They weren't after me and I couldn't have stopped them if I tried. They might have taken me with them and killed me or something and then you all would never know what happened." I said.

"And you didn't see anything?"

"I let them think I had passed out."

"Then how did you know that they had left."

"I heard them."

"What did you hear?"

I looked at the boy. I was certain now that the officer couldn't see him or hear him. He had been helping me so far. I thought he may help me again.

He sighed and said, "You heard screaming."

"I heard screaming." I repeated

"Who was screaming?"

"Rachel, Logan and Eliza."

"What were Ms. Young's children doing there?"

"They were lost, I guess."

"So they went to Rachel's room?" he asked

"My room is the room right above Ms. Young's. She could have not realised she was on the wrong floor till she knocked." I said

"And why do you think that the kidnappers took them and not you?"

I looked at the boy again. He grinned.

"What would you have done if I hadn't come?" he asked

I have no idea what would have happened if he hadn't come. All I knew was it couldn't have been good.

"They took them because they are the son and daughter of Apollo." He said

I stared at him.

"You're right. No one going to believe that." said the boy.

"I don't know." I told Mr. Farrar

"Take a wild guess." He said

The boy looked at me and winked. "Just repeat after me." He said

And I did.

"I heard Rachel scream and then one of the men asked what do with the others. They must have touched Eliza or something because Logan started screaming insults at them. The men must have gotten angry and taken them too." I said

"And you ran down as soon as you thought the men had left?"

"Yes."

"How did the men leave?"

"Through the window." I said

"They jumped out of a window on the third floor?"

I remembered what Eliza had said earlier.

"There was a balcony below. They could have landed on that and then climbed down." I said

"Okay then. Thank you Ms. Carmichael. If I need more information, I'll call you. For now, that will be all." said Officer Farrar.

I got up and walked as fast as I could without running. The boy followed me.

As soon as we were in the hallway and I was sure no one could hear us, I started asking him questions.

"Who are you?" I asked him

"You didn't recognise me?" he asked

"No. What it true what you said back there that Logan and Eliza are the children of Apollo?"

"Yup."

"Do you mean Apollo as in Greek god Apollo, the Sun God Apollo, Son of Zeus Apollo, Brother of Artemis Apollo?" I asked

"That's me!" he said

I stopped and stared at him.

I opened my mouth to question him but then I remembered what Rachel said about Greek gods and everything being real. This boy could be Apollo. That would explain why only I could see him. He didn't want Farrar to see him so Farrar didn't. Gods can do that right?

Wait a minute. He's a god, he can do anything.

I reached my room and went in. I went straight to Rachel laptop. I opened it and searched for files related to Greek Gods. I couldn't find anything. I tried to look for files with the name Percy Jackson. He was a friend of hers, I think. He came over to visit her sometimes, with his girlfriend. Maybe he knows something.

Three files came up. All three were documents. I double-clicked on the 1st document.

It asked for a password before it opened. I typed the password, "Blue Hairbrush."

The document opened. It read;

_Percy,_

_Here are some things that I want to add in my book. Read it and tell me if I missed anything:-_

"_Things a half-blood should do when he/she realised he/she is a half-blood_

_Don't use your cell phone. It attracts monsters._

_Go to camp half-blood in New York_

_Try not to get killed and _

_Never tell anyone about Greek mythology not being mythology unless you want people to think you're mentally retarded."_

There was more but it still doesn't tell me much. I turned to Apollo.

"Could you tell me what's going on?" I asked

"Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell you but you can figure it out on your own." He said.

If he wasn't going to help me then why was he still here?

My cell phone rang. I looked at the caller id. It was Rachel. I thought half-bloods weren't supposed to call. Something must be wrong; they had left only 20 minutes ago.

I picked up the phone and started talking, "Rachel! Where the hell have you been? I have been so worried......................................"

I got interrupted.

"We're okay, Mom. We everything's fine." She said

Mom? I wasn't her mom. But then if something goes wrong then she can't really call her mom, right? I'm the only one she can call.

"Mrs. Di Angelo, this is Officer Carlow, Is this young lady your daughter?" asked a male voice through the phone. They were using Nico's surname. Of course, they can't use their own; they're supposed to be kidnapped. But if she needed help I'll play along.

"Yes, Rachel, are brothers and sister with you? You didn't lose them right?" I asked.

"No, they're here." Said Rachel

"Oh, thank god. Rachel when I said you can explore, I meant the station not London!" I said. They had to get to New York, right? That's what the document said.

"Were you all going somewhere?" asked Carlow

"Yes, we are headed back to New York." I said.

"Is Mr. Di Angelo there?" he asked

"Yes, just a second." I handed the phone to Apollo. I thought it would seem more realistic if Rachel and all pretended to have two parents.

I couldn't hear what Officer Carlow was saying but Apollo was using a different voice. He was talking in the voice of a man in his forties and it was kind of creepy to hear considering he looked like a 19 year old boy.

Apollo handed the phone back to me.

"The Officer will give them a ride to the Airport. They might make it to New York." He said

"They _migh_t make it?" I asked

"Yeah, the monsters may still catch up to them." He said.

"And if you make it to New York, Find Officer Rivers and give him this." He tossed something at me. I looked at it. It was a five pound coin. I looked up to ask him why he was giving this to me, but he was gone. I looked at the coin again; it can't be an ordinary coin. Why would Apollo give me an ordinary coin? Why would Apollo give _me_ anything? I put the coin in my pocket. It wasn't for me anyway; it was for Officer Rivers in New York, whoever he was.

I just needed to one call to the airport now and then I was free to think about all the freakish things that happened today.

Part 2

Rachel Elizabeth Dare. 18 yrs.

"Son of Hades?" repeated Eliza, "_Son of Hades_? You're joking, right?"

Of course, the oracle of Delphi has no effect whatsoever.

"I don't think that he is." said Logan.

"We have to keep running." I said. Monsters could still catch up.

"Why are monsters after the son of Hades? Can't you kill them all?" asked Logan

"They're just after half-bloods in general. Not me in particular." Said Nico

"What are half-bloods? How do they know which child is a half-blood?" asked Eliza. She was still in shock. The look of disbelief was still on her face.

"We have a different scent." Replied Nico, "Now let's run."

"Then how come they didn't find us earlier?" she asked, not moving from her place.

"The scent grows stronger after you find out you're a half blood." I said

"What does that mean?" she asked

"It means we stink now!" said Logan, "Run!!!"

He grabbed her hand and stared running. Nico and I followed.

"I wouldn't exactly say 'stink'." said Nico. We caught up to them.

"We can't run." Said Eliza. She stopped running but Logan was still tugging at her arm, trying to get her to move again.

"Why not? There _are _monsters after us." said Nico

"Is that why we were running?" asked Logan, letting go of Eliza's hand

I looked at him.

"Why do you think we were running?" I asked

He shrugged.

"I was just following you guys." He said

I think even Eliza was shocked by his answer.

"You mean you're not scared?" she asked

"Should I be?" he asked

"_YES!"_

"Why? If those things do catch up, Nico can just summon those cool skeleton people again."

He said

"The skeletons won't last." Said Nico, "We need to keep running."

"We can't." She said

"Why not!" he asked

"Four unaccompanied children can't go running around the streets of London in the middle of the evening!" snapped Eliza

She had a point.

"Then would should we do?" asked Nico, "Stand here and waited to get killed?"

Eliza opened her mouth to answer but a loud sound interrupted her.

"Was that a trumpet?" asked Logan

"I want to say 'no' but what else would it be?" I asked

"What's the date today?" asked Eliza

The trumpet sound came again.

"The 8th of May. Why do you want to know?" I asked

Usually, when people were running for their lives, some things are more important than what the date is.

"The 8th of May." Repeated Eliza

"Isn't that when that big parade was going to be held around here?" asked Logan

At the same time he said that 2 things happened; the trumpet sounded again and the parade was visible, heading straight for us and the monsters also become visible right behind us.

"Okay, Now we really have to run." Said Nico

"And go where? Into the parade where we might get separated for towards the monsters where we could get killed?" asked Logan

I looked at him to see if he was joking. He wasn't.

"Into the parade."I said

"Okay then, let's go." Said Eliza

I think she was getting over the shock. She grabbed Logan's hand from one hand and Nico's from the other. Logan took hold of my hand and all four of us started running together towards the huge group of people who were marching to the sound of the trumpet.

"If we get separated, we'll meet back at the closest subway station from here." Screamed Eliza, to make sure all of us hear her.

Running in parade felt like I was in the ocean, trying to swim against the current. People participating in the parade were going one way and us four in the other. We were half way through too, but I accidently banged into someone and let go of Logan's hand. I remained standing where I was.

"Logan?" I screamed, maybe be he could still here me.

There was no response so I moved forward.

Suddenly I heard Logan scream from behind me, just screaming, not calling for anyone but just generally screaming, the kind of frantic screams you hear when someone wake up from a scary nightmare. I turned and walked towards the scream

"Logan?" I screamed again

"Hey, watch it, kid." said someone standing to my right. I turned towards him and saw Logan, with his hands and knees and the ground, screaming.

I ran over to him and helped him up

"ELIZA!" he screamed.

For a boy who wasn't scared for monsters, he sure was terrified at being separated for his sister

"She's over there." I lied, pointing towards a random direction.

Logan screamed again and started to run away from me but I grabbed his hand and managed to find a way for the both to get away from the parade.

"Are you alright, Logan?" I asked him

"The streets are empty." He replied in a barely audible voice.

I shook my hands in front of his face

"Snap out of it, Logan!" I said

He looked at me, with completely terrified eyes and asked,

"Eliza's not here, is she?"

"No, but don't worry, we'll find her." I said. I started walking forward. Logan followed me. Actually, he didn't have choice; I was still holding his hand. I looked behind me and saw the parade still marching forward but the street in front of me were practically deserted. I walked over to the nearest shop and looked at its door. There was a sign hanging on it.

"Sorry of the inconvenience but we are closed for the parade." I read out loud

"It's all my fault." Said Logan

"Don't be silly, the shop's not closed because of you." I said

"Not that, everything else is my fault." he said, fingering the locket around his neck

Now, I was really confused; one second he's fine, the next he's screaming and then he's saying it's all entirely his fault.

"If it makes you feel any better, we only got separated from them because of me." I said

"Let's find the nearest tube station." He said

-----------

We walked in silence for about 5 minutes. Then Logan started speaking.

"When she bumped into you, earlier today, the way she stared at your book, I knew she was curious to know more. But she's shy sometimes. So, I found out which room was yours. I got lucky there, it was right above my mom's. Eliza didn't realise we were on the wrong floor till I knocked. Then she figured it out and ran away. I had to push her forward so that you could see her. If I hadn't done any of that, she'd still be with me." He said

"No, if you hadn't done any of that; both of you would be killed by monsters." I said

"You don't know that for sure." He said

"Look, the monsters were already nearby; you could have gotten killed by now. So, by doing what you did, you saved her life." I said

He didn't reply.

"London's not a happy place for me." said Logan.

We took a right turn and entered a much less deserted part of London. Most of the shops were open and there were quite a few people around.

"The same thing happened here three years ago." he said

"So, you've been chased by monsters before?" I asked him

He shook his head.

"It was worse then." said Logan. He didn't say anything else and I didn't ask him to. Whatever happened 3 years ago caused him to scream today.

So, we didn't talk after that. We search for a London Underground station while we waited for our friends to return.

**A/N**

**I usually update evey 5 weeks but a review or two might make me faster. **

**:)**


	3. Falling

**A/N**

**I know that I updated this story late but to make up for that, I made this chapter longer than the rest. **

**Enjoy…**

Chapter 3

**Falling**

Nico Di Angelo, 14 and half years.

Eliza screamed and jerked at my hand, pulling me back into the crowd.

"What you doing? Are you crazy, Eliza?" I screamed at her. It was so difficult to move when you were going one way and everyone else around you the other. We had just found a way out and we were almost there too, when she decided to scream.

I grabbed her hand tightly and pulled her out.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" she screamed at me when we managed to separate ourselves from all the people determine to walk in the parade. Seriously, we banged into like 30 people and they just ignored us and kept walking.

"I'm crazy? You're the one who..." I stopped mid-sentence.

"Where are Rachel and Logan?" I asked; they weren't with her like I thought they would be.

"On the other side." Said Eliza

"How do you know?" I asked her

"Because they're not here, idiot." She snapped at me.

"Hey, calm down. There's no need to insult me." I said

"How can I be calm down when my _brother_ might be somewhere in that." She said pointing to the parade.

"Well, my _friend_ might also be somewhere in that. You don't see me freaking out." I said

She stared at me for a second.

"You're right. I'm sorry I called you an idiot. But Rachel is 18 and Logan is 8. Do you see the difference?" she asked

"They are both equally helpless if monster attack them, so, no, I don't see the difference." I said

"Speaking of monsters..." she said, looking towards the parade again.

I looked where she was looking. I could see an ugly monster head poking out, an angry ugly head.

"We need to keep moving." I said

"Right." She said and then turned around and ran the other way, towards the sea of marching people.

I held on to her hand and started running the other way, away from danger like any sane person would do. She followed for a while and then tripped and fell.

Eliza didn't get up again. She sat on the pavement and said, "I need to find Logan."

"Well, you can't find him if you're dead, can you?" I said

"I can't find him if he's dead either." She said

"Chances are; we will die before them."

"Chances?" she asked standing up.

"Chances were I'd be at home right now. Chances were that my brother would be with me right now. Chances were that I would not be running for my life with a complete stranger. So, don't talk to me about chances." Said Eliza, angrily

"Technically, you're not running and also I'm not a stranger. We've know each other for 5 minutes. That makes us acquaintances." I said

"I can't believe I jumped out of a window after you." She said

I grinned at her

"But you lived, didn't you?" I said, "So just trust me. We'll find Logan and Rachel."

I held out my hand.

"Now decide; do you want to run wildly in a random direction searching for your brother or do you want to come with me where you have a 95% chance of actually finding him." I asked

Eliza reluctantly took my hand.

"We better find him." she said

And then we ran, as fast as we could and turned at every turn we could see. But no matter what we did, there were always at least 2 monsters after us. It wasn't like we were running slowly. I always thought that when I find someone who didn't know that he/she was a half blood and we were running for our lives, the other kid would slow me down. But Eliza was running as fast as me. I was really surprised by that but eventually she ran out of stamina.

"I can't run anymore." she panted

"Can you walk?" I asked

She nodded.

I looked around me.

"Where are we?"Asked Eliza

I shrugged.

"Underground parking I think." I said

"How did we get underground?" she asked

"Okay, we're on a first floor parking."

"You sure about that?" she asked

"We are definitely in a parking because I can see cars parked." I said

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND LOGAN IF I'M LOST MYSELF!?" she asked

"We'll, if you're lost and he's lost then you might just find him because both of you don't have any idea where you are." I said

"How can you be so insensitive?" she asked

"Insensitive?" I asked

"Yes! My little brother is out there somewhere, lost and lonely and you care about is making jokes." She snapped

"If that's all I cared about then I wouldn't be here right now." I said

Eliza looked at me.

"Don't you get it? You shouldn't be her right now." She said

"Oh, yeah? Then where should I be?" I asked

"With Logan." She replied

"Will you stop worrying about him?! He's fine. He's probably with Rachel and he's not scared." I said

"Yes he is."

"How do you know that?" I asked

"He's my brother, I think I know him better than you do." said Eliza

"He _said_ he wasn't scared." I said

"That was then. Now...... It's all your fault." She said

She was seriously starting to annoy me now.

"How is all this my fault?" I screamed

"Logan thought you would protect him from monsters. If you're not with them when they attack him, he might die. So, this is all your fault." She screamed back

"You're talking as though he's already dead."

"I wouldn't know if he was because you're useless."

That's it. If she wants to throw a tantrum right now then I'll let her run off and get herself killed.

I took out my sword and handed it her.

"If I'm so useless then why don't you defend us from monsters?" I said

She took the sword

"Fine, I will." She said

"Fine." I said. I took one step back and folded my arms across my chest.

"I'm going to just stand here and watch." I said

Eliza ignored me and turned towards the entrance we had just come through. She held the sword with both her hands and waited.

"They'll be here soon. Are you ready?" I asked

There was no reply.

"You should be more worried about yourself than about Logan." I said

"Shut up." She said

"You're not even holding the sword right."I said

"Shut up."

"You know if we die, then this would be your entire fault." I said

"Can't you keep quiet?"

"I'm just saying that considering how stupid you're being right now; there is a high possibility that we might get killed."

"And there is an even higher possibility of Logan and Rachel getting killed." She said

"Not technically because the monsters are after us." I said

Just as I said that two appeared in the doorway. The monsters, I mean not Rachel and Logan.

"Okay, Eliza, give me back my sword. You can't do this." I said

"Shut up." She said

"Eliza, even I can't take on two monsters at once."I said

"I'm not you."

"You won't be able to find Logan if you're dead." I said

She lifted the sword above her head as the monsters advanced towards us.

"Don't you _want_ to find him?" I said

The two monsters came closer. They were both about 8 feet tall and had the same built as a sumo wrestler. In other words, she had no chance against them.

"Eliza, will you just ...." I stopped speaking.

She was glowing. Literally; there was a light surrounding her body.

I don't know where it was coming from or whether it was a good thing or not, I just wanted my sword back.

"DO YOU HAVE SOME INSANE DEATH WISH?" I screamed at her

"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" she screamed at me as she brought the sword down. As soon as it touched the ground, I was thrown back by some sort of force from an explosion, a really loud explosion.

-

I got up and stared around for a second.

What just happened?

"Eliza?" I called

"Are you alright?" came her reply. She had fallen only a little further from where she had been standing. My sword was not next to her like I had hoped; instead, it was stuck inside the part of the ground where it had made contact. A long crack in the road had appeared but the monsters had disappeared.

"I'm fine." I said as she got up

"I mean mentally." she said, plucking my sword out of the ground.

"What's wrong with you, handing me a cursed sword like that?" she asked as she tossed it back to me.

I caught it in mid air

"What's wrong with you?" I asked

"Handling my sword in that cursed way..."

For a moment, she didn't understand what I was saying. Then,

"YOU MEAN I CAUSED THE SWORD TO BLOW UP?!"

"Yes you did."

Eliza and I both looked towards who said that. As much as I agree with those three words, I hadn't said anything.

"I'm impressed, two monsters in one blow." the speaker continued as she stepped into the light.

I stared at her, my mind completely blank.

"Hey Nico." she said

"Don't recognize me?"

I did. Her face was so familiar to me but why was she here? This was the last place I'd expect her to be.

"Thalia, What are you doing here?" I asked

Thalia looked at me and smiled.

"Recruiting." she said

"Who?" I said

Thalia tilted her head towards Eliza.

"Eliza? You're here for Eliza!?" I said. I looked at her. She was looking from me to Thalia and then back to me. I don't blame her for being shocked but I can't say that I wasn't so myself.

Why would Thalia want to recruit Eliza?

"Recruit for what?" asked Eliza, slowly taking a step away from Thalia.

Thalia laughed.

"Relax," she said

"It is a good thing to be recruited by me."

"For what?" Eliza asked again.

"For the Hunters, The hunters of Artemis." I said

"So, do you want to join?" asked Thalia

"Why would I want to do that?" asked Eliza.

"Because," said Thalia, coming closer to us.

"If you did, you'd be stronger, braver, and immortal, you'd have no responsibilities except to follow us. You'd-"

"What's the condition?" Eliza asked

"Why should there be one?" asked Thalia.

I could very clearly tell from her expression that Thalia was enjoying this. I wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing for Eliza.

"You are offering so much, there has to be a condition." said Eliza

"You have to forget all your relationships with males." I said

She wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Thalia.

"Spoil sport." said Thalia, giving me a dirty look.

"All relationships?" asked Eliza, thoughtfully. She was considering it! She was actually considering joining! I can't believe thi-

"Even with my brother?" she asked

Thalia nodded.

"Then I can't join." said Eliza, firmly. It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than trying to convince Thalia.

"You sure?" asked Thalia, disappointed

"We could use someone like you." she said

"Why are you recruiting in the first place?" I asked.

"The war took some of our hunters, Nico, We are trying to increase our numbers again." said Thalia. She turned to Eliza again,

"We don't get turned down that often." She said

"I can't leave my brother." She said firmly

"I'm sure Logan will be fine, he's a strong boy" said Thalia

"Have you met Logan?" I asked her

Thalia smiled at me.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." She said

"My brother will manage without me..." said Eliza, looking down at her feet

"But I can't live without him." She continued

Thalia stared at Eliza for a while.

"Do you really want to be with your brother?" she asked

Eliza nodded

"Then come with me." Thalia said, walking over to us.

"Where?" I asked

"Wherever Logan is." Thalia replied

"You can take us to him?!" asked Eliza in relief.

Thalia caught hold of our hands,

"Well, I can't leave you here can I?" she said

"I can shadow travel." I said

"Do you know where to go?" asked Thalia

I shook my head.

"Besides," she continued,

"Why waste your energy on that?"

"What is shadow travelling?" Eliza asked me

"I'll tell you later." I said. I didn't really want to shadow travel; it just felt incredibly awkward Thalia holding my hand.

"Ok, now close your eyes and concentrate on me." Said Thalia

Eliza closed her eyes immediately. So did I.

-

I felt Thalia leave my hand so I opened my eyes. The streets had become a lot more crowded now. I didn't think it would be easy to find Rachel until Eliza suddenly screamed.

"LOGAN!" she cried

They were right there. Logan and Rachel just standing there looking in the other direction. Eliza ran up to them as fast as she could. I stood there.

Thalia had gone, she had disappeared.

I couldn't figure out why she came let alone why she just suddenly left.

I don't think she genuinely wanted to recruit Eliza.

Rachel came up to me.

"Are you two alright?" she asked

"We're fine" I said

"You sure?" asked Rachel

I looked over at Eliza. She was on her knees, with her hands on Logan's shoulders. She was talking to him, I think.

"She was just worried." I said

Rachel smiled

"It's amazing how well they know each other." She said

"Huh?" I said

She ruffled my hair.

"You won't get it." She said

"Why not? I had a sister." I said

"Well......I don't know how to say this..." she started

"I'll tell you later." She said

Eliza and Logan walked up to us before I could say anything.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Eliza, clutching Logan's hand.

"What about the uglies?" Rachel asked

"They're dead." I said

"Okay then, to the airport!" she said, not even surprised by that piece of news.

"Which way is the airport?" asked Eliza

"Good question." Said Rachel

"And do you know the answer?" asked Eliza

"......"

We all just stared at each other for a while, because none of us had any idea about what we should do.

"We could ask a policeman." suggested Logan.

"I'm not sure that would be a good idea. We are missing children, in case you forgot." I said

"Yeah, but we only left like 20 minutes ago. I'm sure that no one had been informed about us yet except a few police officers." said Eliza

Rachel nodded her head.

"I can't think of a better idea." She said

"Ok then, let's ask the police man." I said

So we all headed towards the jolly fat man nearby (and I don't mean Santa Claus)

"Excuse me, could you please tell us the way to the airport?" asked Rachel

The policeman looked at her.

"Aren't you too young to travel alone?" he asked

"No..." said Rachel as thought that was the most absurd thing she had ever heard

"I'm _eighteen_" she said

"What about those three?" he asked, looking at us suspiciously.

"I'm nearly sixteen." I said immediately. That wasn't true of course. I was only fourteen and three quarters, but I was tall enough to pass off as nearly sixteen.

"And you?" asked the police officer looking at Eliza.

"Fourteen." Eliza said. That was a complete lie, again. She was barely thirteen! But I guess if I can lie about my age, so can she.

"And you, little guy?" he asked Logan

"I'm eight." Said Logan, smiling proudly as he did

"Where are your parents?" asked the officer

"Sir, we are old enough to travel alone." Said Eliza

"In a foreign country, I don't think so, kids" he said

From our accents, it was pretty clear we were not from London. Besides, what kind of person lives in London and yet doesn't know how to get to the airport?

"Do your parents know where you are?" the police officer.

"Sir," I said, "Even we don't know where we are."

The officer laughed.

"What is your name?" he asked Rachel

"Rachel D…di Angelo." She said

I think she was going to say 'Dare' but stopped. And obviously the only other surname with'd' that she could think of was mine.

"And yours?" he asked Eliza

"Eliza Di Angelo." She said

"Are you all related?" asked the over inquisitive officer

"Yeah…" said Eliza

The officer looked at all of us carefully. He looked from Rachel's red hair to my black hair to Eliza's light brown hair to Logan's blonde hair.

I guess it did seem unlikely that we all were related, so I wasn't surprised when the officer asked the next question,

"Let me talk to your parents." He said

"Why?" asked Rachel

"No reason. Just doing my duty, making sure you kids don't get lost." He replied

"Okay," said Rachel, taking her cell phone from her pocket.

"But let me warn you, mom is really whiney..." she said

Then she dialled a number and put the call on the speaker phone.

Suddenly Mandy's voice erupted from the mobile.

"Rachel! Where the hell have you been? I have been so worried......................................"

Rachel interrupted her

"We're okay, Mom. We everything's fine."

"Mrs. Di Angelo, this is Officer Carlow, Is this young lady your daughter?" Asked Officer Carlow immediately

"Yes, Rachel, are brothers and sister with you? You didn't lose them right?" asked Mandy. It was kinda weird to listen to Mandy's voice because it had gotten a bit high pitched with worry and so now, she really did sound like our mother.

"No, they're here." Said Rachel

"Oh, thank god. Rachel when I said you can explore, I meant the station not London!" said Mandy

"Were you all going somewhere?" asked Carlow

"Yes, we are headed back to New York." I said.

"Is Mr. Di Angelo there?" he asked

"Yes, just a second." Said Mandy.

Then Carlow put the speaker phone off so we couldn't hear anything, but I could hear definitely hear a male voice coming from the phone.

"Remind me to tell Mandy how much I love her when we get back." Rachel whispered in my ear.

I was going to reply when the officer handed the phone back to Rachel.

"Let me get give you all a ride to the airport." He said and stared walking towards his car. I followed him and so did the rest of us.

-

I'm glad that Logan wasn't fat. Otherwise it would have been a very uncomfortable ride to the airport. The officer's car wasn't big. Logan, Rachel and I were squashed in the back while Eliza sat in front with the officer.

"How exactly did the monsters die?" Rachel whispered to me.

"Eliza exploded." I said

Rachel gave me a weird look.

"Eliza killed them?" she asked.

"I think it was involuntary." I replied

"Like she didn't realise even that she was doing it." I said

"That's weird..." said Rachel

"I have never heard of half bloods blowing up yet being alive and well the next minute." She said

I looked over at Logan. He had been listening carefully to our conversation.

Now, he was smiling.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked him

"My sister blew up monsters." He said grinning stupidly.

Suddenly Eliza turned around to face us.

"Look to your left." She whispered

I looked.

"How many monster were chasing us?" asked Rachel

"Four, I think." I said

"And how many did you kill?" asked Rachel

"Two." Said Eliza

"So, two are still out there?" asked Logan

"Right out there..." I said

"Actually, Left out there." Said Rachel

One big hairy, stupid looking, ugly _thing _on the other side of the road was staring at this car with pig like beady eyes and two horns sticking out of it's disgusting head. This one was bigger than the other two, at least ten feet tall.

Off. Carlow stopped the car

"Sorry, kids." He said as he got out of the car,

"I just need to check up on that suspicious looking man over there." He said

"Which man?" asked Logan after the officer left.

"The mist is making him see the monster as a 'suspicious looking man over there.'" Said Rachel

"He left the keys in the car." Said Eliza

"So?" I asked

"So, maybe we could borrow the car for a while" said Eliza

She wanted us to steal a police car.

"We could do that." I said

I didn't mind stealing a car.

"Fine with me." Said Rachel

"Let's do that, it'll be fun!!!" said Logan, enthusiastically.

Eliza rolled her eyes at us.

"I should have guessed that answer." She said

She climbed over the gears and jumped onto the driver's seat.

"Do you know how to drive?" I asked

"Of course I do." She said as she reversed the car and turned right.

"It's coming after us" said Logan, with his head out the window, looking behind us.

"How do you know who to drive?" I asked

"For my twelfth birthday, our housekeeper taught me." She said

"It's catching up." Said Logan

"Go faster!" I said

"I can't." She said, "I won't be able to control the car."

"Just go faster." Screamed Rachel

The car went faster.

"It found a friend! It's some sort of giant dog." cried Logan

"We're going too fast!" said Eliza, "I-

"Brake!" screamed Rachel suddenly

"What?" Eliza asked

"BRAKE!" screamed Rachel.

I looked in front of us.

"Eliza, brake!" I screamed

"Break what?" asked Eliza

"The car!" shrieked Rachel.

There was a wall up ahead, it was far enough but at the speed we were going, it think we'd hit it in about

5

4

Eliza stepped on the brakes

3

2

1

BANG!

Straight into the wall.

Logan got out of the car as soon as we hit, so did Rachel. I got too and somehow Eliza managed to stumble out.

"Wow, you actually broke the car." said Rachel

"Shouldn't we be running?" Said Logan

Easy for him to say that. He hadn't been running all evening.

"Eliza, are you alright?" asked Rachel

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, "Just the airbag in my face."

The hell hound bounded towards us.

"Go." I said, taking out my sword

"Where?" asked Eliza

"Just go." I said

"Nico, the only thing to go to is the metro station." Said Logan

"Then go there." I said

"It's locked" said Eliza

"Then go somewhere else."

"We can't" said Rachel

The monsters were pretty close now.

"Eliza, catch." I said and threw my knife at her.

She caught and tried to pick the lock with the knife

The hellhound charged at me. I blocked his attack with my sword.

"Be faster!" I screamed at her

"It's not happening!" she said

"Make it happen!" I shouted

Suddenly a knife swished past me and landed in the hell hound, which almost immediately fell over, must have gotten hit on a vital point.

I turned to Eliza

"Did you just throw-" I started

"Don't scream at me." Said Eliza

I don't know whether the knife was aimed at the monster or at me.

I took my knife out of the hell hound.

The other monster roared loudly.

Rachel suddenly turned around and smashed her hand in the window, next to the door.

"What the hell was that?" I asked

"If the door's not opening we can go through the window." She replied

I picked up a pebble from the ground and through it at the window to get rid of some more of the glass.

Now it looked big enough for me to fit through.

"Okay, let's go." Said Rachel and jumped through the window.

Eliza followed.

"Nico, can you do me a favour?" asked Logan

"Now's not the time, Logan." I said

I could hear the other monster approaching.

"Actually, this is the best time." He said

I looked at him.

"What do you want?" I asked

"Say you'll take care of Eliza if anything happens to me." He said

"Nothing is going to happen to you." I said

"Just in case." He said

"Fine, I'll take care of you sister if anything happens to you." I said

As soon as I said that his expression changed. The big, pleading eyes that had been staring at me disappeared.

Logan grinned at me and jumped through the window.

I quickly jumped too.

An angry, gigantic monster is not something I'd like to be faced with.

I landed on stairs.

"Rachel?" I called

"Over here." came her voice.

It was pitch black in here. I couldn't see anything. So, I followed her voice for a while.

The cave collapsed.

I know we weren't in a cave but it sounded like a cave had collapsed. And that could only mean one thing.

"Run!" I screamed to no one in particular. Just in case the others could hear me.

I put my hand on the ground and summoned some skeletons.

Then I listened to my own advice and ran.

I caught up to them pretty fast.

They were standing still.

"What's wrong?" I asked

Eliza pointed forward.

"There was a light there." She said

"A light?" I asked

They all nodded.

"Are you sure it wasn't a train?" I asked

"No, it wasn't a train." Said Rachel

"It was like a fire, from far away." Said Logan

Something about the way he said it made shiver run down my neck. It sounded like he was in a trance.

I snapped my finger in front of his face.

He didn't react.

"Logan, are you alright?" asked Rachel

"Did you hear that?" he asked

"Hear what?" asked Eliza

"It's calling us." Said Logan

"What is?" I asked

"The fire." He replied

The next moment I saw it; the light in the tunnel. Like someone far away was having a bonfire.

"Guys, there is an angry monster behind us." I said

Suddenly, Logan started running.

Eliza ran after him.

For a second, I thought they were running away from the monster.

Then I realised they were running toward the fire.

I know it's in the same direction but there was a difference.

A big difference.

"Logan, Stop!" screamed Eliza

That's when I knew something was wrong and that's also when I started running after them.

"Both of you stop!" I screamed

Surprisingly, they did. At least Eliza did. I couldn't see Logan.

"He's gone." Said Eliza

I could see her outline in the darkness, but I couldn't see Logan at all.

"Eliza?" I said

"He's gone." She repeated.

Then, she started running again; sprinted actually, screaming Logan's name as she ran.

I looked back at Rachel.

She was just standing there, not doing anything.

I ran after Eliza, Rachel wasn't going to help, I think.

The creepy light from earlier started to surround Eliza again.

I ran faster.

The light became stronger.

I caught her arm. It was hot, really hot, like it was burning.

"Eliza, stop running!" I screamed and then let go.

She took one more step forward and then fell on her knees.

I looked at my hand. It was burnt, almost as though I had been touching fire.

It wasn't light. I figured it out; it wasn't light that surround Eliza, It was heat.

Speaking of light, there was approaching us; not a light that looked like a fire but an acual light, from a train.

I turned around to warn Rachel but she was on her knees too.

I could feel _it_ happening.

The spirit of Delphi was entering Rachel's body.

The timing was absolutely perfect.

Not.

"We need to go." I said to Eliza

She wasn't glowing anymore but she didn't respond; she just sat on the tracks for the train and cried.

"Now!" I said

Rachel stared speaking, all of a sudden; in the voice that made me shiver every time I heard it.

"_A creature from the past revived._

_Will meet a lost who survived"_

I managed to get Eliza to get off the tracks, she was still crying but at least she was moving

"_To be hidden within a death so slow_

_Seven shall question and eight shall know"_

The train blew its horn. I didn't have enough time to run. I closed my eyes and shadow travelled to where Rachel was standing.

"_Nine shall battle on an empty plain_

_One alone won't suffer the pain." _Said Rachel, as I reached.

I grabbed her and jumped off the track just was the train went by.

I took a deep breath of relief and looked at the mess I was in; Logan was missing, Eliza wouldn't stop crying, Rachel wasn't even awake and I had no idea what to do.

In situations like these, if I was not a half-blood I would say that only gods could help me now

But I _am_ a half-blood so, naturally, I know they won't.


	4. Avoiding

Chapter 4

**Avoiding**

**Rachel Dare.**

I woke up to the sound of a train passing by. And that was weird because I don't remember falling asleep. I sat up and looked around.

Nico was sitting right next to me. Eliza was sitting a bit further away. I couldn't see Logan anywhere. The last thing I remember is all three of them running and then my mind went blank.

I groaned.

"I said a prophecy, didn't I?" I asked

"Yeah, you did." Said Nico

His eyes were closed but he seemed to be awake.

"What happened to all of you?" I asked.

Both Nico and Eliza were just sitting sadly where they were, not moving.

Logan had disappeared

"I honestly don't know." Replied Nico

I got up. If Nico doesn't know then maybe Eliza does. I could have only been out for a minute, maximum, but from the way they were acting, maybe it had been longer.

I walked over to Eliza. I could hear Nico following me.

"Are you alight?" I asked her.

"No." she replied

I looked at her carefully. Her knee was bleeding.

"Doesn't your knee hurt?" I asked

"Doesn't you hand hurt?" she asked

Why should my hand hurt?

"It doesn't hurt." I said

I heard Eliza unzipped her bag. It was kind of surprising that she still had it.

She took out a torch and flashed the light on my hand.

I looked at it; my hand was completely covered in blood with glass sticking out of it.

Slowly, she started taking the glass pieces out.

I winced as she did so

"Okay, now it hurts." I said

After all the glass pieces were out, she dug into her bag again and took out her handkerchief, which she tied around the cuts on my hand.

"What all do you carry in that bag?" asked Nico

"Anything I think I will need." Said Eliza

"Do you have antiseptics?" I asked

"We aren't allowed to carry liquids on an international flight." She said

"You mean you reached London _today_?" I asked

She nodded

"And I've already lost my brother." She said, her voice cracking up

"What will I tell my mom?" she asked me

I looked at her eyes; this was the first time I'd gotten a good look at them.

They were completely red. She'd been crying a lot, it seemed.

"Nothing." Said Nico

"Don't tell your mom anything. You can't go home now." He said

Eliza looked at me.

"He's right." I said

"Then where am I going to go?" she asked

"Camp Half Blood." I said

"That's where Nico and I were planning to taking you in the first place."

Eliza stood up.

"I am not going anywhere with him." She said

"Why not? What did Nico do?" I asked

"Logan thought you'd protect him!"Said Eliza, loudly

"I didn't tell him to think that!" screamed Nico.

"This is _not_ my fault."

"Then whose is it, Rachel's?" she retorted

It couldn't be my fault because I didn't do anything.

"Maybe it's your fault." Said Nico

"How so?" asked Eliza

"Maybe he got fed up of you always tagging along with him wherever he went and ran away." Nico said

"You don't know Logan like I-"started Eliza

"I don't need to know Logan. _Anyone_ would get tired of you if you behaved like that."

"Like what?"

"So freaking annoying! You're like a..."

"Okay!" I interrupted them.

"That's enough from both of you." I said

"It's more than enough." Said Nico

"See you later, Rachel." He said and before I could do anything to stop him, he disappeared.

"He's gone?" said Eliza in shock.

"You know when you make a mistake you're supposed to stay and correct them not run away." she said

"Eliza, this is no one's fault." I said

She didn't respond.

"We need to think of a way to get to camp half blood." I said

"We could take the train." said Eliza

"How are we going to do that?" I asked

"We are in the London Underground and a train just went by; there must be a platform nearby." She said.

And that's exactly what we did. We kept walking in the darkness till we found the platform. With some difficulty we climbed on to it.

The next train would arrive in a couple of minutes. We waited in silence. I had no idea what to say to her. I barely knew her and I wasn't that good with people; especially those who cried. Eliza wasn't crying anymore. I think Nico leaving was a bit of a surprise to her. I'd actually been expecting it.

The train came and we got on.

It was empty except for a girl sitting facing the door.

She smiled as we stepped in.

"Hello there." She said

I recognised her voice. I'd heard it before, once maybe twice. She was one of Percy's friends.

"Thalia, right?" I said

"Right." she said, still smiling

"Nico finally left, huh?" She said

"You knew he was going to?" asked Eliza

"Of course I did, Eliza. Why do you think I came to meet you then?" she asked

"You said you wanted to recruit me back then." said Eliza

"When was this "then"?" I asked them

"A while back." Said Thalia, "I knew you'd never say 'yes'"

"Then why did you come?" asked Eliza.

The train started moving.

"I wanted to meet you. Heard a lot about you, you know."

Eliza sat down on the nearest seat.

"From whom?" she asked softly, tears starting to pool in her eyes again.

"Logan" said Thalia.

An then they stared at each for a while in a way that made me feel like I was the only one who had no idea what was going on.

"Three years ago, I met him." said Thalia

Eliza winced at her words, as though trying to block out the memories that were coming back to her.

"All he talked about was you. He told me that he wasn't scared because he knew you'd find him.

"And you did. You found him; of course, I helped." Said Thalia

"How am I going to find him this time?" she asked

"Don't worry... you will. You're powerful."

"No, I'm not! I can barely..."

"You're the only half blood I know who managed to use Apollo's power!" Thalia interrupted her.

Eliza looked at her, probably feeling as confused as I was.

Thalia sighed

"How do you think you defeated those monsters back there?" she asked

Eliza shrugged, "I don't know" she said

"It just sort of happened..."

"You got upset, lost your mind and awakened Apollo's power that rest within you, the power of the sun!"

"SO what? I don't know how I did it and I don't think I could do it again!" said Eliza

Thalia stood and for a second I thought she was going to disappear too but instead she walked over and sat down between me and Eliza.

"I thought you might say that, so I got you this." She said and handed her a sheath. Eliza took it and placed her hand over the silver handle of the sword inside.

"Look here." Said Thalia and pointed to the sheath. I leaned over her to get a better look.

Φόβος was written on it, but it was really small and you had to squint to see it.

"Fear." Said Eliza (Don't ask me how she knew that)

"Yeah," said Thalia

"This sword was made so had that people would fear who ever used it. Of course when it was made it was a lot bigger. Thousands of years did a lot of damage to it but I got it fixed and it's still in great condition. Except you can't really call it a sword anymore... It's more like a really big blade."

"Thank you." Said Eliza

Thalia smiled.

"Put it to good use, okay?" she said and stood up and this time she did disappear.

"I hate it when they do that." I said

"Do what?" asked Eliza

"Just disappear. It's annoying." I said

"Rachel, three years ago I ..." she started

"It's okay." I said

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to."

Eliza smiled.

"I don't want to." She said, then dug into her bag for the third time this evening and took out my book.

"Where did you get that?" I asked her.

"Picked it up from your room... I hope you don't mind I thought I might need it..."

"That's right. You will need it." I said

"Read up."

And that's exactly what she did. I'm not sure whether it was because she wanted to take her mind of things or because she was genuinely curious.

**Nico Di Angelo**

"No." I said

"Are you sure?" she asked

"Yes, I'm sure I didn't light a match and set my hand on fire, nurse." I said

"I was just asking." She said as she applied some sort of cream on my burned hand.

"Why? I already told you what happened..."

"Maybe I should call your parents and tell them what happened." She said

"My mom is dead and good luck trying to reach my father." I said

"Ok, now your story makes sense."

"It does?" I asked

"Yeah, I mean, I'd never put my hand into boiling water to take out my cell phone but I guess friends must be pretty important to you." She said

"Why would you say that?"

"Friends are pretty much the only family you've got." She said

I didn't say anything.

After she finished she told me to hurry up and get out of there before any doctor sees me.

I ran out and hailed a cab.

"Where to?" asked the driver

"The airport." I said

It was the only place to go. After all, the nurse was right. Friends are the only family I've got.

**Rachel Dare (again)**

"This airport is huge." Said Eliza

I agreed with her. The airport was enormous. We'd been walking for ten minutes and we were totally lost.

"Maybe we should ... Nico." She said

"What?"

"Nico." She said and pointed straight ahead.

"Is he really there or am I hallucinating?" she asked me

"No, I think he's really here because we both can't be having the same hallucination."

"Nico!" she called and waved him over.

He came

"I'm sorry." She said

"Yeah, um, so am I." He said, kind of surprised that she apologised first.

"SHHHHH!"I said suddenly

"What's wrong?" asked Nico

"Listen." I said.

"To what?" asked Eliza

"Just listen." I said.

_This is the last boarding call for the flight 345 to Ne__w York. Would the di Angelos please report to boarding gate no. 7._

"I have never been so happy to hear an automated voice." I said and started running.

Mandy was an angel. That was all I thought as we ran to gate no. 7, this was the second (or third) time she'd helped us out. I could see the gate now so I turned around and called out to Eliza and Nico who were running behind me at a snail's speed;

"Come on, let's go... I don't want to miss our flight!"

* * *

"The best seats you could possibly get." I said and sat next to Eliza. She took the window seat but I didn't mind. I like aisle seats better. Eliza sat quietly, staring out of the window.

Nico sat two rows behind us. They hadn't spoken to each other since that brief exchange of apologies earlier.

"Are you going to sleep?" I asked her

She shook her head.

"I know I'll have nightmares if I sleep." she said

I didn't say anything. I don't like flying in airplanes; makes me feel like Zeus is going to zap me out the sky any time though there's no reason why he should.

After takeoff I expected Nico to come over and to talk to Eliza but he didn't. He stayed in his seat and she in hers. So, I got up and went over to him and wacked his head.

"Ow! What was tat for?" he said.

I knelt beside his seat.

"Go talk to Eliza!" I said

"Why?" he said "I have nothing to say to her!"

"Well, think of something and then go talk to her!"

"I don't want to talk to her..."

"Nico, she's had a tough evening, the least you can do for her is talk to her!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?" I asked, "You promised Logan you'd look after her and now you can't even talk to her?"

"How did you know about that?"

"I heard you promise him." I said

"So, I won't let any monster get to her..."

"That's protecting her. Logan asked you to take care of her." I said

"I can't."

"WHY NOT!" I asked him

"Cause that's what I do! I avoid people so that I would have to talk to them!" he said

"I avoided Percy when Bianca died, I've been avoiding civilisation for the past years, I ..."

"You never avoid me." I said

He shook his head.

"You didn't know Bianca. Being friends with you is my way of avoiding her memory." He said

I stayed silent for a while.

"Then your avoiding the wrong person." I said

He looked at me, confused.

"She's going to find Logan, Nico, and when she does... do you want to be standing next to her feeling like you kept your promise or do you want to be back at camp avoiding Logan for the rest of your life?" I asked him.

He didn't reply. I got up and went back to my seat. Eliza was still awake, clutching my book in her hands.

Another hour into the flight, Nico came over asked if we could switch seats.

I got up again but I did go to his seat, instead, I sat in the empty seat behind Eliza's.

"Hey." Said Nico

She didn't reply.

"I'm sorry." he said

"For?" she asked.

"For letting Logan think he'd be safe with me. I'm not going to apologise for him disappearing though, that was not my fault, the tunnel was dark, I couldn't see anything and it just happened too fast." Said Nico.

"I'm sorry for saying it was your fault." She said.

"You couldn't have stopped him even if you tried. I just needed someone to blame.

"Losing someone is easier when you have someone to blame." Eliza said.

"Yeah, I know." Said Nico.

"My mom got a job in London three years ago and it was a really good offer so she took it. We had to move to London. Mom was at work all day, I had to catch up on school work because we shifted in the middle of the year and Logan would usually sit in my room and just fool around. Sometimes, we'd go to the park. One day Logan asked me to take him to the park but I had homework so I told him we'd go later. Then later, I couldn't find him... he wasn't in the house he wasn't with the neighbour, he just vanished. We, me and the housekeeper, found a note on the refrigerator. It was from Logan. I said he'd gone to the park. Except he didn't know the way, he got lost on the way... He wasn't at the park.

"For 4 days we couldn't find him... we called the police, we asked everyone and we just couldn't find him. Then he just turned up on the fifth day, dirty and hungry but safe. But he had nightmares every night, he'd wake up screaming, he wouldn't step out of the house alone. Finally things got so bad that mom sent us back to New York to live with my aunt.

"I blamed myself for that. I kept thinking that if I had just taken him to the park, he wouldn't have gone through all that. I don't want to blame myself again. God knows where he is, is he alright, is he even alive...?" she said

"He's alive." Said Nico

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I'm the son of the god of the underworld. I can tell when people I know die." He said.

"Will you help me find him?" she asked

He nodded, "Even if you don't want me to, I'm going to help you."

She smiled.

"I'm sorry." She said

"For what?" Nico asked.

"For all the unfair things I might say to you in the future."

"Well, in that case, I'm sorry too." He said

They were quite for a while. Then they talked a bit about Camp half blood and I think they fell asleep after that.

* * *

"How are supposed to find a cab at this time of the night?" asked Eliza

"Don't know, don't care." I said. I felt like I hadn't slept at all. My head hurt and I just wanted to lean against something and pass out.

Nico was staring at the road hoping that a cab would just materialise out of nowhere.

"Eliza?"asked someone.

"OH MY GOD JACK!" shrieked Eliza and threw her arms around 'Jack'.

"What are you doing here" asked the boy.

"I'm here with my cousins. We just landed." Said Eliza and then she introduced us.

"Jack, these are my cousins, Rachel and Nico and this is my friend Jack." she said and then they launched into conversation about "what jack was doing at the airport." Which eventually turned into a conversation about where Jack was going and then Jack started talking about directions and then.

"That's where we are going!" I said. The mention of the road he mentioned woke me up.

"Ok, that's not where we are going but it's really close to it." I said

"Really?" asked Jack.

I almost felt like saying that I was lying but I was too sleepy to bother.

"So are you waiting for a cab or can we give you lift?"asked the kid.

"If it's on the way then..." said Nico. Nico was easily 4 inches taller than Jack and the fact that Nico could speak seemed to surprise the kid.

"ou guys can come with us... we have minivan and there 're only three of us. Let me ask my parents if it's okay." he said and ran off excitedly.

"Why did you tell him our real names?" asked Nico.

"He's a friend I made at camp. His parents love to travel and they are never in one place long enough to know the local news. They'll probably forget about us as soon as they drop us off." said Eliza.

"Ok, guys, you can come with us!"Said Jack happily.

Jack and his parents talked the whole way. It almost made me glad when we reached camp half blood hill.

* * *

"Stop here, please." I told Jack's father.  
"Here?" he asked

"Yeah." said Nico, "Our car will pick us up for here."

"And where is your car?" asked Jack's mother.

"I don't know but our driver is there" I said pointing to the man standing some distance from the car.

"Who is that?"Asked Jack

Apollo; that was Apollo standing there, I couldn't see his face but I could tell it was him.

"Our driver." Said Nico

"Do you know him?" Jack asked Eliza

"Of course I do!"She said indignantly.

"Prove it!" Jack said

"Fine." She said and opened the car door. She gave me a quick look and I nodded at her and then she walked towards him in the dark. I waited in the car. Apollo was here. Eliza was going to talk him. This was either going to go well or not well. And by not well I mean bad; really bad...

**A/N**

**So sorry I updated so late. Let me know which one is your favorite chapter so far! ;) :P **


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